The NC State Wolfpack had an offensive explosion Saturday afternoon against the Stanford Cardinal, beating their new conference rival 59-28 at Carter-Finley Stadium thanks to 527 yards of total offense.
The Pack scored on nine straight drives – eight of those being for touchdowns – and had only three drives that did not end in points, all of which came at the end of the game.
“We talked a lot during the bye-week about starting fast, working on the little things that have really not been efficient – but should be – and getting guys to play complementary football and really focus on the things that make us a better football team.”
The offense was dang near perfect on the day, and in fact, quarterback CJ Bailey had just two incomplete passes throughout the entire game, going 18-for-20 for 234 yards and three touchdowns.
“I think I’ve really improved on staying relaxed,” Bailey said. “When I was in the pocket, I got a little antsy a couple of games before and even in the Cal game, but just staying relaxed and having a plan before I even touched the ball was my main thing coming into this week.”
The Wolfpack did a great job spreading the ball around with seven different players picking up catches, four of those going for over 30 yards and three different receivers finding their way into the endzone too.
It’s been a major turnaround from where the team was earlier in the season.
“I think it comes down to taking ownership and that’s what makes our team special,” Doeren said. “These guys are willing to accept the things they haven’t done, put a plan together to improve and then they get on the field and work. I love that about our team.”
And it wasn’t just a good game through the air either as the run game came to play too.
Senior running back Jordan Waters had a get-right game, running for 115 yards and two touchdowns, including a 94-yard rush to the house, the second longest touchdown run in school history.
“I’m still tired from it, honestly,” Waters said. “But I got to give that to the o-line. I don’t think I even got touched till the second level and then it was just what I’m capable of and making a play. But I needed that. I needed that, really, for myself to build me back up.”
Waters has struggled to be a difference maker like he was with Duke since coming to NC State, with only 260 rushing yards on the season entering today’s game, so it’s good to see the senior able to make more of an impact.
Freshman Hollywood Smothers also joined Waters with 100+ rushing yards and two touchdowns himself including a 52-yard run all the way into the endzone.
“We needed that,” Doeren said. “We have talented backs and it’s just been different guys at different times. Sometimes we’ll have an explosive run that’s called back for a holding penalty or one guy will get beat on a play and to run the football, it takes everybody doing their job. … Our backs ran really determined today. The offensive line gave them good holes and they did stuff with it. They made guys miss and outran people.”
Defensively, things looked a little shaky early on for the Wolfpack even despite a forced fumble on Stanford’s first drive.
The Pack allowed a 67-yard QB rush for a touchdown on a third-and-21 situation the next drive and then followed that up by allowing another Cardinal touchdown in just six plays.
NC State has struggled with containing the run all season and that wasn’t any different with Stanford as the Wolfpack had a good amount of difficulty with Ashton Daniels before he was injured in the third quarter.
However, the fumble recovery and a red zone interception helped to give the Wolfpack the edge in the turnover margin and that along with a 66.67% success rate against third and fourth-down situations, helped to facilitate the Pack’s red-hot offense.
It’s the first time this season that the Wolfpack have won consecutive games and they’ll be looking to make it three when they host Duke next Saturday.
“I’m proud of the team and I look forward to building on this,” Doeren said. “We talked about a five-game season and we’ve got the first two wins out of those five and we’ll just continue to try and stack those things here as we go.”
